As the founder of a successful company in the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) field, I’m constantly working with owners of companies that are growing on the Romanian market.
In my professional experience, I have identified four types of Romanian businessmen with whom I am always pleased to develop business partnerships.
1. The passionate entrepreneur
The passionate entrepreneur is the person who develops a business out of passion. This can be seen in any business interaction: the energy with which they speak and their level of training and knowledge of their field are both above average.
In my experience of implementing projects along with founders of other companies, I’ve noticed that passionate entrepreneurs have a number of things that they are particularly attached to. For example, good sales entrepreneurs are passionate about closing sales or transactions, and “delivery-driven” entrepreneurs are passionate about their own products, and some of them may even be experts in the field in which they do business. I also meet more and more entrepreneurs who are passionate about their mission, meaning that they are fascinated by the changes that their products or services generate in customers’ lives. Entrepreneurs are passionate about the evolution and disruption generated in their industries.
2. The new generation entrepreneur
I am fascinated by the new generation of entrepreneurs, young founders between 20 and 25 years old. There are only a few, indeed, but they excel in terms of the innovation they bring to their fields. They are involved in the digital, content marketing, SEO industries or have created their own products.
What I like about the new generation of entrepreneurs is that they think globally from the first day and may be able to generate a turnover of 1 million euros with just four employees. They have incredible courage to do things like get on a plane to attend an international conference, and to immediately find partners and clients there. The main trait of the present generation of young people under 30 is that they were the first to grow up in a digital world. The new generation entrepreneur perceives the digital realm as an integral part of their natural environment. They are young, they have ideas and have chosen the Internet as the platform to make themselves known.
3. The realistic entrepreneur
The realist is that pragmatic, feet-on-theground entrepreneur. When I develop a business with a realistic entrepreneur and expose a business situation to them, they understand the problem and easily realise that for example, they may be too small or not have the necessary skills to help me.
We may also take the example of financing. Many entrepreneurs are stuck because they have unrealistic expectations about their ability to attract financing from an investor or financial institution. However, the realistic entrepreneurs have a sense of measure, and therefore have realistic expectations in terms of financing, depending on their business plan or their relationship with investors.
4. The senior entrepreneur
The “seniors” for me are the Romanian entrepreneurs over 40-50 years old, with stable businesses, who are constantly reinventing themselves and can be appreciated for their capacity for continuous learning. I admire the fact that their way of thinking and doing business evolves as time goes by.
They are either serial entrepreneurs or the founders of companies created 20 years ago, and they provide new information, strategies and ideas every time I meet them.
Adrian Dragomir is CEO of Termene.ro, a company established in 2014 with the desire to provide companies with business opportunities and a correct assessment of business risks. He has co-founded several companies, has been a speaker at business events and a mentor for Romanian entrepreneurs in the start-up/ growth phase.
